A Walk Down Memory Lane
by Ramona Bandicoot
Summary: The Cooper Gang pulls off a successful heist at an art museum right under the nose of the police and fellow thieves. But what happens when they realize they've missed their boat and a rival is hot on their tails? -oneshot-


**Disclaimer:** I don't own any Sly Cooper characters; they belong to Sucker Punch Productions.

**Claimer:** I own all of my original characters.

_Well, I've been in a creative-oneshot slump lately and can't really think of a good original oneshots. So, here is one that's based on one of the Sly Cooper comics that you can find just about anywhere on Google and random Sly Cooper fan sites. But, of course I had to change it or it would just be plain boring. But it is longer than most of my oneshots so…yay! There is a similar story line type base but it's different and of course, I had to replace Carmelita with Ramona. I don't have anything against the SlyxCarmelita pairing it's just that there are so many of them that's it's just 'blehh' after a while. So, please read and review and let me know what you think. And just for the record, the name of the original comic is "The Heart of a Thief" and I don't own that either. (:_

A Walk Down Memory Lane

The Moroccan Museum of Art was holding their annual art show tonight and it would be the perfect opportunity to see what there was to pick up along with what Bentley already had in mind. The dress attire for this type of gathering was rather simple. Men in suits and women in little black dresses with handbags that you could barely fit a candy bar into. Even as I slowly strolled through the room looking at the art, I was in a time crunch for two reasons. One, I had to steal the painting I had in mind and get it into the team van and get the van on the river ferry before it took off. And second, I had to steal it before Ramona had the chance to swipe it herself. Usually, having a friendly competition with her which was good, but this time it was crucial that I got the painting and not Ramona. Bentley decided that if we sold the painting to a dealer on ThiefNet, we would have a better chance at making more money on this job. Bentley had also gotten wind that Ramona had her eye on the same prize as us and had similar intentions.

Once I started making my way towards my intended target, I spotted Ramona a few feet away. Like most of the other women, she was in a simple black evening gown, her black hair pulled high on her head, and a small handbag. She was working her way through the people to find a good time to strike and I decided that keeping my distance would be best. If she didn't know I was here then there would be a higher chance that I could walk out of here with that painting and not Ramona. I also noticed Inspector Fox here as well; again another woman dressed in a simple black dress. I could only assume she was on undercover patrol to secure all the art here. I slipped past her silently and made it to the almost empty room with my prize. This was the main showcase of the entire evening and the coordinators wanted everyone to see it at once. Other than myself, Bentley and Murray were the only other people in the room. I checked behind me once before the three of us quietly lifted the painting off the wall and secured it in our grasp before I left one of my calling cards in its place and we started slinking down an empty hallway. The van was parked out back and after the painting was secure inside, we would drive down to the pier take a ferry out of the city.

We avoided people as best as we could and thankfully we didn't encounter anyone until we got to the alley where the van was parked. There were a few homeless people staggering around; either too drunk or high to comprehend what we were doing. We simply ignored them as the tried to get the painting to fit in the back of the van. It took all three of us to finally get it securely inside the van. The doors shut and the three of us felt a sense of accomplishment. That is until Bentley started to worry his glasses off. He looked down to his watch before dread washed over his face.

"This is bad! Really, really bad!" he exclaimed after making eye contact with me.

"What's bad? We got out without being detected by Ramona or Carmelita. I think we did pretty well."

"True, but we missed our ferry! And the next one doesn't leave for another hour!" he threw his hands up in the air.

"Another hour," Murray repeated, "Oh man, this is bad! Ramona or Carmelita is bound to find us!" he threw his hands up in the air as well.

"Relax," I said through a chuckle, "you guys just get down to the pier and avoid Carmelita and the police," by now the police had caught on to what we had done, "I'll look around the city and make sure Ramona doesn't find us. She'll be the one we have to worry about. I'll meet you guys on the boat!" Since the police knew we had stolen the painting, I knew Ramona would also have to know. If I could distract her long enough then we could get out of this with our prize.

"Alright," Bentley breathed out as I started to dart from the alley, "But one hour, Sly! One hour!"

"I got it, I got it!" I shouted back. I had my normal thief garb on underneath my suit incase something like this would happen. I decided I would dump it in a nearby dumpster before making a run to find my rival.

The cold night air brushed though my fur as I darted along the roofs looking for Ramona. I had my cane clutched firmly in my grasp as I swung on a nearby lamp post and onto the next roof. I paused and looked to the ground and smirked when I saw a lonely raccoon make her way down the streets before finally coming up to the middle of the bridge that rested over the river. I figured this would be a good place to stop her since the ferry I needed to catch would pass under it in about an hour. She was still in her evening gown and was muttering to herself. By her body language, she was obviously miffed about not getting the painting. I silently dropped to the dimly lit street below and crept up behind the dressed up female. I knew I'd regret this in a few minutes, I did it anyway. I silently reached forward and gently pinched the part of her thigh that wasn't covered by her dress. Ramona's fist whirled around and would have smacked against my face if I hadn't had ducked. I turned my cane to block her next attack and her paw firmly latched on next to mine on the cane. Her other came to grab my collar and she got ready to kick until I flashed a smile. She realized it was only me and not a creeper and she let go; still angered about this situation.

"Ms. Bandicoot I do have to say that we need to stop meeting like this and that there is no need for violence." I retorted playfully only to have her anger rise.

"There wouldn't be any need for violence if you didn't creep up on me! What, did you find me just to gloat on you victory for tonight?"

"Possibly," I smirked, "or I just wanted to see that you made it home safely." She tilted her head upward slightly and crossed her arms.

"Oh, really?" she narrowed her eyes and I chuckled at her childlike expression as I leaned my paw against the barrier of the bridge. I didn't answer but simply looked out over the water, checking for my ferry.

"Do you remember when you learned that you actually help me and my gang on our first heist in the orphanage?" I asked as I decided to change the subject, "Unintentionally that is?"

"How could I forget?" she yelled out, "You entangled me in your little heist and earned me a month's detention and a reputation as a thief!"

"Sweetie, you became a thief anyway so did it really matter?" I raised an eyebrow and watched her fur bristle. She always hated when I used pet names on her, but I loved watching her expressions when I did; especially if she was already mad.

"Well, you turned my reputation into a premature one!" I chuckled at her response and decided to keep going on the track we were traveling on.

"Oh come on Ramona, I helped you while we were in detention!" I laughed out, "Remember when you got an extra day and I went so far to send you that care package?" she snorted and laughed.

"That care package which included a couple of smoke bombs which only got me another week of detention! Your little shenanigans almost got me kicked out of that orphanage and sent to another one." I let out a laugh as I thought about what had happened afterward.

"I had never seen Mrs. Puffin as mad as she was that day she found them!" I leaned against the side of the bridge.

"She never trusted me afterward!" she shouted back. She tried to hide the fact that she was smiling but it didn't work.

"Exactly, so that's why you had to become friends with us!" she shook her head violently.

"Liar, the other kids just found me a little…different." He voice softened.

"You mean being a thief?" I raised an eyebrow and her temper started flaring again.

"No! I just wasn't from France." She crossed her arms once again and I chuckled at her expression.

"But you do have to admit, that night was fun." She was starting to lighten up as she laughed out her next response.

"Fun for you!" she laughed back, "I'm the one who got sucked into it!"

"Au contraire, mademoiselle, you were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time." She let out a devilish smile and rolled her eyes.

"Don't even try smooth talking me, Cooper. Save it for another gullible woman. I heard you and your friends going over you plans in science that day and you were supposed to be outside. But no, you just had to crash into the wall didn't you!"

"Murray was the driver, my dear," I laughed as I remembered how our cookie stealing plan had turned out with Murray crashing a toy cycle into the side of the orphanage.

"That's not the point!" she retorted back, "If you hadn't planned to steal Mrs. Puffin's cookies in the first place, none of it would have happened."

"But if it didn't happen would have even become close friends? It was when we suffered in detention for a month is when we finally got past small talk." It was true, our semi-failed heist is what caused us to get past idle chatter that we had in our regular classes.

"You would have made a move sooner or later, don't deny the fact that you would." I chuckled at her response and nodded as well.

Our plan was simple, I would sneak into the headmistress office and steal her jar of cookies while Bentley would be the brains and Murray would be the driver. Things went wrong when the janitor came in and almost caught me stealing the cookies. I shoved as many as I could in my hat before tugging on the line that connected me to Bentley. The tug caused Murray to go full force on driving and he eventually lost control as I was dragged along with them. Our getaway vehicle eventually crashed into the side door of the orphanage that the janitors used at night so they could clean up without children being in the way. Ramona, who had gotten up that night to use the restroom, happened to cross that path just as we crashed inside. We plowed over Ramona and all four of us were dazed. The crash obviously caused a commotion and staff quickly caught us. Even if all four of us told them Ramona had nothing to do with it, she was given the same month long detention as us. She had forgiven us a long time ago but every time I brought it up she'd get flustered.

"Indeed I would," I gave a quick glance to my watch and realized that my hour was already up, "How the time does fly when you think back, doesn't it?" he eyebrows knitted together.

"I suppose," she placed her paws on her hips and gave me a sideways glance, "What are you up to?"

"Nothing," I put my paws up in a surrender and chuckle, "Even if I was, you'd chase me down. There's nowhere to run and I can't swim." She raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"I know how you work like the back of my hand, Cooper. You're up to something." I heard the sound of the ferry I needed to catch and that was the cue for me to make my exit.

"Well, Ms. Bandicoot," I said before seamlessly slipping my paw down to my belt, "this has been fun, but I do need to get going."

"What are you up to, Coo-" she was cut off when she started a coughing fit after I smashed one of my smoke bombs onto the ground. I jumped over the edge of the bridge and fell until my feet landed firmly on the ferry underneath me. Our van, that still had the painting inside, was securely placed on the ferry and Murray and Bentley were standing next to me. I looked back to where I had left Ramona and saw the cloud of smoke was almost gone and she was glued to the edge of the bridge. The three of us raised waved as she realized where we were.

"Cooper!" she roared from the bridge, "You little sneak!" she started screaming at us in some type foreign language that she knew as we watched her silhouette on the bridge become bathed in moonlight as we floated away. We ducked as she hurled her two high heels at our ferry but missed horribly and the ranting continued.

"You have a good night Ms. Bandicoot!" I shouted back as her yelling became louder. We had gotten a good half of a mile down the stream and her outline could still be seen and her rather loud rant could be heard clear as day.


End file.
